To conclude, in one word; as often as we call God the Creator of heaven and earth, let us remember that the distribution of all the things which he created are in his hand and power, but that we are his sons, whom he has undertaken to nourish and bring up in allegiance to him, that we may expect the substance of all good from him alone, and have full hope that he will never suffer us to be in want of things necessary to salvation, so as to leave us dependent on some other source; that in everything we desire we may address our prayers to him, and, in every benefit we receive, acknowledge his hand, and give him thanks; that thus allured by his great goodness and beneficence, we may study with our whole heart to love and serve him.

~ Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 14, Part 22, by John Calvin

Being forewarned of the constant presence of an enemy the most daring, the most powerful, the most crafty, the most indefatigable, the most completely equipped with all the engines and the most expert in the science of war, let us not allow ourselves to be overtaken by sloth or cowardice, but, on the contrary, with minds aroused and ever on the alert, let us stand ready to resist; and, knowing that this warfare is terminated only by death, let us study to persevere. Above all, fully conscious of our weakness and want of skill, let us invoke the help of God, and attempt nothing without trusting in him, since it is his alone to supply counsel, and strength, and courage, and arms.

~ Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 14, Part 13, by John Calvin

• Do you believe the Bible is the perfect, inspired, final authority Word of God?
• Do you believe there’s one God, Three Persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit?
• Do you believe Jesus was fully God, fully Man?
• Do you believe Jesus died on the cross in our place for our sins?
• Do you believe Jesus bodily rose from death?
• Do you believe that Jesus is the judge of the living and the dead?
• Do you believe that apart from Jesus there is no salvation?

“If sinners be damned, at least let them leap to Hell over our dead bodies. And if they perish, let them perish with our arms wrapped about their knees, imploring them to stay. If Hell must be filled, let it be filled in the teeth of our exertions, and let not one go unwarned and unprayed for.”

― Charles H. Spurgeon

After [the re-dedication of the restored temple] had been done, the officials approached me and said, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not separated themselves from the peoples of the lands with their abominations, from the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost.” As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled.

~ Ezra 9:1-3

Can you say that you have the same fear of God that Ezra displays here? The Jews, God’s ‘chosen people’, were a people group “set apart”. they were to be holy to the Lord and that included a list of 603 civil and ceremonial laws that separated them from all the people around them. At the heart of many of these laws was the provision that they were not to mix with other people groups – not out of some sort of supremacy, where they thought that they were pure and the rest of the world was impure (though that did happen), but because mixing with other people meant a combining of families, traditions, and – eventually – religions. It would water down their faith and reduce their “different-ness” in the sight of those who were not part of this chosen people group. In light of this revelation that the people of Israel, now in captivity or dispersed when Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had captured the land promised to them by God, had opted to forsake their heritage and inter-marry with the people in the lands that they were now inhabiting, Ezra reacts with furious repentance.

Was he angry at the people? No, he was reacting in fear of God. Tearing your clothes and pulling your hair is a sign of anguish and humility – he is, on behalf of the people of God, humbling himself before the Lord. He didn’t sit and ponder its implications for a while, or discuss it over dinner, he immediately recognized what this news meant to the people of God and he reacted as he would if his children had been murdered before him. This is the dedication that he has toward God – that he knows God, the heart of God toward His people and what God required of them, and in that knowledge, he has also grown to love and respect God and the power that God has over all of His creation. This is the same God who spoke and the universe leapt into existence, who created the earth to be inhabited, then created its inhabitants and placed man on the earth, created in His image, to rule over this world and everything on it. This same God then selected a certain people group, promised them land, fulfilled this promise under the pretense that they would serve Him according to His laws – and when they had separated themselves from this promise, He did as he said He would do and allowed in other rulers to oppress them and eventually remove them all from the land. And here they stand, on the precipice of finally coming back into the land – the temple that they had built to this God who is finally delivering them from the captivity and oppression that they’ve experienced for the last 70 years was coming to an end, and he finds that the ‘People of God’, had been sinning against God even more while they were being punished for their sins against Him. This is the God that Ezra is reacting to – this is the God that Ezra is in fear of.

In the rest of this chapter we learn that because of his public call for repentance and humility, most of the people followed in repentance and, when God’s answer to them came that they should separate themselves from the wives they’ve taken, symbolizing their repentance of their allegience to foreign gods, they follow through, despite the pain that will cause them.

Dear Christian, are you in tune with God to the point where you know what He despises in your life? Do you know the God who, through the death of His Son on the cross on your behalf, has purchased you? Do you react in the same manner as Ezra when you see people outside of the church sinning against Him? Is your heart broken when you see people in the Church living in sin? Do you collapse in repentance when you see sin in your own home or in your own life? Our nation, our churches, our homes, and our lives need a good solid injection of the fear of God. To understand not only His loving-kindness and long-suffering, His love and mercy, but also His power and glory, His justice and severity. With a proper understanding of these things, no one will want to sin and our hearts will be broken for those who we see who live in open rebellion against God. Resolve today to ask God to fill you with fear and respect for Him and to prompt you on to transform your own life, your own home, your own church, and, as a result, your own nation to honor the God who has redeemed us all. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Will you do the same?

John, deputy of the Eastern Churches, said, “God created man in his own image,” and thence inferred that images ought to be used. He also thought there was a recommendation of images in the following passage, “Show me thy face, for it is beautiful.” Another, in order to prove that images ought to be placed on altars, quoted the passage, “No man, when he has lighted a candle, putteth it under a bushel.” Another, to show the utility of looking at images, quoted a verse of the Psalms “The light of thy countenance, O Lord, has shone upon us.” Another laid hold of this similitude: As the Patriarchs used the sacrifices of the Gentiles, so ought Christians to use the images of saints instead of the idols of the Gentiles. They also twisted to the same effect the words, “Lord, I have loved the beauty of thy house.” But the most ingenious interpretation was the following, “As we have heard, so also have we seen;” therefore, God is known not merely by the hearing of the word, but also by the seeing of images. Bishop Theodore was equally acute: “God,” says he, “is to be admired in his saints;” and it is elsewhere said, “To the saints who are on earth;” therefore this must refer to images. In short, their absurdities are so extreme that it is painful even to quote them.

~ Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 11, Part 14, by John Calvin

Were one, with the view of turning the defenders of images into ridicule, to put words into their mouths, could they be made to utter greater and grosser absurdities? But to put an end to all doubt on the subject of images, Theodosius Bishop of Mira confirms the propriety of worshipping them by the dreams of his archdeacon, which he adduces with as much gravity as if he were in possession of a response from heaven. Let the patrons of images now go and urge us with the decree of this Synod, as if the venerable Fathers did not bring themselves into utter discredit by handling Scripture so childishly, or wresting it so shamefully and profanely.

~ Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 11, Part 15, by John Calvin

Oh, SNAP!

How peculiarly this property belongs to Scripture appears from this, that no human writings, however skilfully composed, are at all capable of affecting us in a similar way. Read Demosthenes or Cicero, read Plato, Aristotle, or any other of that class: you will, I admit, feel wonderfully allured, pleased, moved, enchanted; but turn from them to the reading of the Sacred Volume, and whether you will or not, it will so affect you, so pierce your heart, so work its way into your very marrow, that, in comparison of the impression so produced, that of orators and philosophers will almost disappear; making it manifest that in the Sacred Volume there is a truth divine, a something which makes it immeasurably superior to all the gifts and graces attainable by man.

~ Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 8, Part 1, by John Calvin

Let it therefore be held as fixed, that those who are inwardly taught by the Holy Spirit acquiesce implicitly in Scripture; that Scripture, carrying its own evidence along with it, deigns not to submit to proofs and arguments, but owes the full conviction with which we ought to receive it to the testimony of the Spirit. Enlightened by him, we no longer believe, either on our own Judgment or that of others, that the Scriptures are from God; but, in a way superior to human Judgment, feel perfectly assured—as much so as if we beheld the divine image visibly impressed on it—that it came to us, by the instrumentality of men, from the very mouth of God.

~ ~ Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 7, Part 5, by John Calvin

The Bible cannot be held to be perfect in every manner without the indication that is provided to us by the Holy Spirit. This is why the unbeliever will continue to mock and belittle it because left to their own understanding of the text, it is only as trustworthy as is a comic book, newspaper, or their textbooks. By the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, either on their darkened minds leading them to the light of understanding, or that which is present in the mind of a believer, is what testifies to its truthfulness and leads the reader to affirm that it is true. We cannot simply start with the presuppoistion that it is the Word of God and wholly true as Muslims state the same about their holy books, and Mormons about theirs. Our defense of scripture stems from the heart of God who, through the revelation provided to us through the Holy Spirit, not only reveals to us the truth of scripture, but defends it against all the claims by other “faith books” of world religions.

But herein appears the shameful ingratitude of men. Though they have in their own persons a factory where innumerable operations of God are carried on, and a magazine stored with treasures of inestimable value—instead of bursting forth in his praise, as they are bound to do, they, on the contrary, are the more inflated and swelled with pride. They feel how wonderfully God is working in them, and their own experience tells them of the vast variety of gifts which they owe to his liberality. Whether they will or not, they cannot but know that these are proofs of his Godhead, and yet they inwardly suppress them. They have no occasion to go farther than themselves, provided they do not, by appropriating as their own that which has been given them from heaven, put out the light intended to exhibit God clearly to their minds. At this day, however, the earth sustains on her bosom many monster minds—minds which are not afraid to employ the seed of Deity deposited in human nature as a means of suppressing the name of God. Can any thing be more detestable than this madness in man, who, finding God a hundred times both in his body and his soul, makes his excellence in this respect a pretext for denying that there is a God? He will not say that chance has made him differ from the brutes that perish; but, substituting nature as the architect of the universe, he suppresses the name of God. The swift motions of the soul, its noble faculties and rare endowments, bespeak the agency of God in a manner which would make the suppression of it impossible, did not the Epicureans, like so many Cyclops, use it as a vantage-ground, from which to wage more audacious war with God. Are so many treasures of heavenly wisdom employed in the guidance of such a worm as man, and shall the whole universe be denied the same privilege? To hold that there are organs in the soul corresponding to each of its faculties, is so far from obscuring the glory of God, that it rather illustrates it. Let Epicurus tell what concourse of atoms, cooking meat and drink, can form one portion into refuse and another portion into blood, and make all the members separately perform their office as carefully as if they were so many souls acting with common consent in the superintendence of one body.

~ Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 5, Part 4, by John Calvin

How wicked is man to use the body that God gave us, and the breath with which He provides us life to claim not only that He does not exist, but that if He were to exist as the Bible describes that He is wicked and evil when compared to the consciences of men.

For, first of all, the pious mind does not devise for itself any kind of God, but looks alone to the one true God; nor does it feign for him any character it pleases, but is contented to have him in the character in which he manifests himself always guarding, with the utmost diligences against transgressing his will, and wandering, with daring presumptions from the right path. He by whom God is thus known perceiving how he governs all things, confides in him as his guardian and protector, and casts himself entirely upon his faithfulness,—perceiving him to be the source of every blessing, if he is in any strait or feels any want, he instantly recurs to his protection and trusts to his aid,—persuaded that he is good and merciful, he reclines upon him with sure confidence, and doubts not that, in the divine clemency, a remedy will be provided for his every time of need,—acknowledging him as his Father and his Lords he considers himself bound to have respect to his authority in all things, to reverence his majesty aim at the advancement of his glory, and obey his commands,—regarding him as a just judge, armed with severity to punish crimes, he keeps the Judgment-seat always in his view. Standing in awe of it, he curbs himself, and fears to provoke his anger. Nevertheless, he is not so terrified by an apprehension of Judgment as to wish he could withdraw himself, even if the means of escape lay before him; nay, he embraces him not less as the avenger of wickedness than as the rewarder of the righteous; because he perceives that it equally appertains to his glory to store up punishment for the one, and eternal life for the other. Besides, it is not the mere fear of punishment that restrains him from sin. Loving and revering God as his father, honouring and obeying him as his master, although there were no hell, he would revolt at the very idea of offending him.

~ Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book 1, Chapter 2, Part 2, by John Calvin